The World Left Behind: In the Beginning
Southern Pan-Africa (Old South Sudan) July 20th, 2032 The old Chinook helicopter was flying rough above the skies of Pan-Africa, Hunter and a small team of Siberian Rangers sat in the back, geared up and ready to drop at a moments notice. The mission was quite simple, an ally of the Siberian Republic had lost a key asset in the region due to the fighting as a part of the Unification War that Pan-Africa was waging across the continent, trying to unite the people under one banner. The asset was described as a titanium breifcase with the Democratic States of New York seal on the front, they weren't informed as too what was in the briefcase, they didn't care. Since, however, the operation was for the DSNY they were sending their own troops to assist in the matter, a fact that Hunter wasn't exactly fond of. Hunter looked much younger now, as it would be many years until his trial ever would take place. His dark hair and deep blue eyes were covered by his Ranger required helmet, though it was hot as hell in the damn thing. He carried with him no scar, that he would earn much later and much farther down the line. The DSNY had sent their Delta Company, named after the old American special forces unit, to help the Siberian Rangers and to be sure that the asset wasn't tampered with. Hunter was runnign with his brother rangers, though they were a squad that he wasn't exactly familiar with as Viktor and Keil had both been kept on the wall due to some political happenings. The commander of his squad was Vladamir Namirov, a 1st Ranger from western Siberia, he was well known for his ruthlessness in combat with the infected in China and had thusly earned his stars and stripes. "Nervous Hunter?" asked Vladamir, looking down at Hunter, an impressive feet due to Hunter's height of nearly six and a half feet. "Never nervous, sir, just ready to get into the action," said Hunter, he was still young at this point, only about twenty years old making him one of the younger Rangers in Siberia. "Don't be too cocky, boy, you've seen combat on the wall and sure the infected are a bit of a fight, but real humans? That is a fight to be afraid of," said Vladamir in an attempt to empart some wise words to the young Ranger. "I hear you, sir, I'll be careful if and when the fighting comes," said Hunter checking his rifle, Cerberus made so it was one of the few good ones out there. "So you gonna where that helmet all day, Ruski?" said a voice from across the chinook, in English and not the Russian that Hunter was so used too. Hunter looked around, noticing that he was the only one that was in fact wearing his helmet, "Helmet protects, why remove?" said Hunter in a butchered English, he had picked it up from sailors back in Vladivostok and during his training there aswell. "Protects from what? The other teams here to help you?" said the voice again, but this time closer, it had a slight accent to it that Hunter didn't recognize. "Not you, when landing may help, don't want take off and put on," said Hunter trying his best to express his thoughts to the other man. "Well sounds simple enough, but again aren't you hotter than two squirrels fucking in a sock in that thing?" said the voice again and this time Hunter finally found the man speaking. He was tall, not as tall as Hunter, but only a few inches shorter, his hair was a light brown and he looked as if he hadn't shaved in days. He was wearing the standard desert camo for this kind of operation and the flag of the DSNY was patched onto the shoulder of his BDU. "I don't understand," said Hunter simply, not being able to comprehend the entire phrase that the man had said. "Forget about it, it doesn't matter, by the by the name's Joesph," said the man, smiling as he got up and extended his hand out to Hunter. "Names is Hunter, hello," said Hunter as he grasped the man's hand. It was almost by those hands shaking that something happened, the Chinook started to shake violently and a flashing warning light went on. "Everyone to your seats, we're taking small arms fire," said the pilot passing the warning onto the men inside the vehicle. On the ground, a pack of militia fighters fired on the Chinook, thinking that it may have been a Pan-African helicopter attempting some kind of operation. They sprayed and prayed that their bullets hit their target, and in fact it was hitting the target it just wasn't penetrating the hull of the helicopter. One of the men on the ground wisened up quick and grabbed something with a little more punch. It took a minute to set up the .50 Caliber machine gun, but in the end it was worth it as the team would soon find out. Hunter felt the first hits, they felt like punches to the back and he could almost feel the dents that they formed. He saw as the bullets moved their way up the hull and closer to the cockpit where the pilots were. "Look -" he tried to yell, but it was in vain as the second the bullets hit the cockpit that pilot was KIA. The chinook started to go down and go down hard, the crew inside thrown around like ragdolls. It felt like an eternity to Hunter, but finally the helicopter hit ground. And then the world went dark.